A friend asked about credit monitoring services because she had received some emails that her social security number and other information was found on the web. She wanted to know what to do about it.
I’ve been thinking about it since she asked. I don’t have one of the paid credit monitoring services because I have my credit “frozen” (as should you) which I wrote about it this article.
But since the 2017 Equifax data breach of 147 million people’s information, and the data breaches that happen everyday, you must assume that your information is out on the “dark web”.
The dark web cannot be accessed from Google, Microsoft, or AI searches. It’s special forums, Telegram channels, computer servers, etc. where the criminals hang out to exchange details, sell data, and even sell criminal services to other criminals.
Even if a monitoring service found your information there, the service can’t do anything about it. So again I stress that you should freeze your credit and reset any compromised passwords because your passwords are permanently on the dark web as found in this data breach of 184 million passwords.
Even though I haven’t paid for credit monitoring, I do use the free aspects of Credit Karma and Credit Sesame to monitor my credit. I also have paid for the “Breach Watch” service in my Keeper Security password manager, because it helps me know exactly which passwords have been found on the dark web and tells me which of my accounts is still using the password.
Here are some free ways to see your information on the dark web, if you dare…
- Google’s Dark Web Report: Google offers a free dark web monitoring service for Google account holders, allowing users to add personal information like email addresses, phone numbers, and social security numbers to be monitored. Go to your Google Account, navigate to the Security tab, and then find the Dark web report section.
- Have I Been Pwned: This website, run by security researcher Troy Hunt, allows users to check if their email addresses or passwords have been compromised in data breaches, including those appearing on the dark web. Go to the website Have I Been Pwned and enter your email address to see if you’ve been compromised.
- Aura’s Free Dark Web Scan: Aura provides a free scan to check if your email address has been exposed in data breaches. Go to Aura’s scan page and enter your email address.
I did try the Google Dark Web report and it told me that my social security number and date of birth was part of the “2021 AT&T Subscriber Data Breach” and it was found on the dark web as of March 19, 2024. I haven’t had an AT&T account in over 15 years. Thanks, AT&T… I’m so glad my credit is frozen.
So, are credit and dark monitoring worth it? Yes, but you don’t need to pay for it. You may find value in a service like Keeper Security’s Breach Watch to point you specifically to passwords that you should update.